Life with Great Friends. You, yes you can make Great Friends. The World yearns for someone to be brave and ask someone for a journey to make Great Friends. Learn how to make friends in a busy world

Gary was asking me about friendship and finally got to his real question, “I hate meeting strangers.  I am an introvert.  What would you say to someone like me who isn’t going to reach out to others?”  My answer was, “There is not magic pill that will solve the need for you to reach out […]

There I was about ready to lose it emotionally. I could feel my brain fighting to regain a sense of calm while the “uncalm” part was winning. Why? Because less than one hour ago, Andrea had told me exactly how she would like me to install the cedar trim for the door. Now, the cedar boards were cut and nailed into place. But it didn’t go so well!

You are either gaining or losing in your friendships based on how well you listen. Listening is like a bonus check you deposit in the bank. Lack of listening is withdrawing from the account, if you go negative, they close the account. In this podcast, we talk about how you can determine your beliefs about the outcomes from listening.

What does Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM, Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, your mother, your wife, your kids and your friends all want from you? One thing that takes relationships to a new level. One skill that can turn you from unwanted to wanted. Most of the advice on this one skill is not helpful, because it overlooks the one thing that will define your ability to be successful. It will stunt your ability to grow relationally.

I was a master at giving Offensive Advice. I had the ability to get them mad and walk away. Isn’t it true that the wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy? Aren’t we being helpful by pointing out the other person’s mistakes, so they won’t make them again? What could be more loving than giving them advice for them to grow? Yeah. I have felt the “love” of unsolicited advice and learned it is not loving. Below is what cured my Offensive Advice problem.

She held half of the BFF heart necklace in her hand. The other half belong to Julie. Julie hadn’t called in over 7 years and the last time she did she had 5 minutes to chat. She wants to rid her life of the BFF necklace, but the guilt is too great. What if Julie calls? What if Julie stops by some day and reminisces about the good old days and the day she gave the BFF necklace? Then her thoughts turned to guilt. She hadn’t called Julie. She hadn’t sent a birthday card in years. More guilt.

You have a voice. It is voice the world needs to hear. No, it is another American Idol voice. It what makes you unique and is a blessing to others. We will explore how to find your voice in this podcast. On today’s Podcast, we interview Joel Boggess, author of Finding Your Voice. In his book, Joel is real and vulnerable, and his advice is applicable to making Great Friends. During our interview, he brings up two key elements to creating Great Friends: Believe you have something to offer others. Be Vulnerable. Share your past.

In an age of electronic connections, we can forget the power of person-to-person/voice-to-voice connections. There is a recent University of Michigan study that confirms we need person to person connections. Here is a link to that article: University of Michigan Research.

Many people use the excuse that they don't know how to be a friend. Andrea and Doug have found that most do have the skills. In this episode, we talk through some of the basic skills for being a friend. We hope you realize, "I have those skills and more. I can do this."

Notes to be added later.

In this episode, we chat about the mindsets that often stop us from even starting the journey to a life with great friends. These obstacles can be overcome once we realize they are there and decide to not let them stop us. Please leave a comment and we will gladly answer your questions or comments.

Here is Episode #1 of the Life with Great Friends. In this episode, we share how we went from lonely to great friends. We share one of the key mindsets to have great friends.